Introduction to Disconnected or Opportunity Youth Improving - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Governor’s Office for Children

Introduction to Disconnected or “Opportunity” Youth

Improving Outcomes for 16- to 24-Year-Olds Who Are Out of Work and School

Today’s Agenda

Welcome and Objectives National Data and Background Statewide Data and Digging Deeper Video: Opening Doors: Connecting America’s Youth Promising Strategies, Collective Impact, and Case Studies BREAK Activity Part One: Next Steps for Building a Local Strategy for Reconnection. What Do We Know? Activity Part Two: What Do We Have, What Do We Need, and Where Can We Find It? Beginning to Conceptualize a Local Strategy Adjourn

The purpose of this presentation is to:

• Provide a basic overview of youth disconnection from a national, State, and

wherever possible, local perspective;

• Inform local planning through research and analysis of best and promising

practices for reconnecting youth;

• Equip participants to begin conceptualizing local strategies for addressing this

population, including:

• Identifying the local disconnected population and/or recognizing where to

find them;

• Recognizing specific barriers to school and work;
• Identifying gaps in local data and services;
• Identifying necessary stakeholders and beginning to consider how they

might be engaged.

Today’s Objectives

• Almost six million youth ages

16-24 are out of school and work.

• Reached peak during 2007-

2008 and has mostly stayed static.

• Impacts every State, in rural,

suburban, and urban areas.

A National Crisis

Two groups of youth are being left behind:

• Youth ready to work, but

do not possess the skills that employers want

• Youth not ready to work

because of individual and systemic barriers

What’s Going On?

Impact and Opportunity

On youth:

• 2x more likely to live in

poverty

• Poor physical and mental

well-being

• Poor social bonds

On communities:

• Higher crime rates
• Increased social services
• Lost revenue

If the current cohort were working, the impact on our economy would be $4.7 trillion over their lifetime.

Disconnected youth are a heterogeneous group made up of varied subpopulations with different needs.

Subpopulations

Educational Attainment

• Dropped out of high school (31%)
• Have a high school diploma (47%)
• Earned a college degree (4%)

Race

• Black (21.6%)
• Native American (20.3%)
• Latino (16.3%)
• White (11.3%)
• Asian American (7.9%)

Key Risk Factors

• Living below poverty
• Parental unemployment
• Physical or mental disability
• Homelessness or insecure housing
• Transitioning from systems
• Living in racially segregated neighborhood

(negative result unless white)

Gender

• Males (53%)
• Black males (25%)
• Females (47%)
• Mothers (33%)

Wide disparities exist among disconnected youth by race.

Racial Disparities

Nationally, Latino or Hispanic disconnection is starting to show signs

• f improving. Black or African-American disconnection is not.

Statewide

There are more than 85,000 disconnected youth in Maryland.

• Affects

the entire state

• 11 juris.

have higher rate than national average.

Statewide

Relatively low percentage of youth population disconnection? Don’t get excited:

• Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Prince George’s and Montgomery

have the most per capita disconnection.

5000 10000 15000 20000

Per Capita

Statewide By Gender

Males and females similarly likely to be disconnected:

Unemployment Rate by Age and Gender

Males 16-19 Males 20-24 Females 16-19 Females 20-24 United States 31.1% 17.7% 25.8% 14.5% Maryland 29.8% 17.6% 24.4% 14.1%

But: rates of disconnection by gender can vary by jurisdiction, so it’s important to collect local data.

Statewide Racial Disparities

Wide disparities exist among disconnected youth by race.

One approach is to address the gap between black and white connectedness.

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% Baltimore Metro (Columbia - Towson - City) Black White All

• Howard County cited in national study for large gap between black and white

youth disconnection rates.

• Maryland ranks 10th out of 10 states with highest African American population for

black male workforce participation

• Baltimore is “the worst” among all metropolitan areas for economic mobility and

future earnings

Where might you find disconnected youth in your jurisdiction?

Pop Quiz!

Identifying Disconnection Locally

Different municipalities have used different methods to identify disconnected youth in their locality. Some methods include:

• Youth turned away from summer jobs programs
• High school dropout rate
• Opportunity Index, opportunityindex.org
• The U.S. Census Bureau/American Community Survey number of

youth by county who are seeking work but unemployed

• Drop-in centers or connection centers
• Data sharing among local agencies and community organizations

(homeless shelters, independent living programs, workforce development, local school system, home visiting programs)

• Street outreach / youth-led engagement

Gaps in Services

The competition for acceptance into a promising workforce program is fierce. As a result, youth are often left behind if they exhibit one or more challenges:

• Lack of reliable child care
• Criminal history
• Reading and math skills below 9th grade
• Transitioning from foster care
• High-functioning disability
• Lack of transportation

See you in 15 minutes!

BREAK!

Video

Opening Doors: Connecting America’s Youth to Opportunity

Promising Strategies

The most common method of reconnection is getting a job.

Got a job Enrolled in school Got married Joined military

Programs for reconnecting youth to work are as varied as the populations that they serve. However generally promising programs rely on four key principles:

• 1. Flexible pathways to educational attainment
• 2. Multiple pathways to employment
• 3. Soft skills and mentoring
• 4. Community service/engagement

Promising Strategies

• 1. Flexible pathways to educational attainment
• Create multiple paths to re-enrollment
• Increase access to alternative programming (accelerated,

dual enrollment, bridge)

• Reduce “seat time”
• Encourage flexible scheduling
• Provide childcare

Promising Strategies

• 2. Multiple pathways to employment
• Prioritize businesses that hire youth.
• Develop a variety of experiences – paid work, apprenticeships, job shadowing.
• Engage employers
• Use employer toolkit from White House Council for Community Solutions.
• Create employer engagement strategy.
• Employers will hire youth when it is easy to do and they believe it will be

positive for their business.

• Be aware of private sector initiatives to reconnect youth:

www.gradsoflife.org 100kopportunitiesinitiative.org

Promising Strategies

• 3. Soft Skills and Mentoring
• Employers are generally willing to hire youth with low job skills, but

draw a line at poor soft skills.

• Five key skills:
• Social skills (get along with others)
• Communication skills (oral, written, non-verbal, listening)
• Higher-order thinking (problem solving, critical thinking, decision

making)

• Self-control (delay gratification, control impulses, focus attention,

manage emotions, regulate behaviors)

• Positive self-concept (confidence, self-efficacy, self-awareness)
• Research shows that simple supports make a big impact on youth’s

success in the workplace (alarm clocks, text message alerts, bus fare).

Promising Strategies

• 4. Community Engagement
• Volunteerism and group membership are critical to building

professional networks.

• Linked to sharp reductions in disconnection, especially among the

most disenfranchised.

• Can be combined with soft skills training and mentoring.
• Need not be formalized or frequent to have an impact.
• Participation in civic/service organization
• Participation in ANY organization (religious, sports)
• Volunteering
• Working to solve a problem
• Helping a neighbor

In 2012, the White House Council for Community Solutions identified over 100 communities who have “moved the needle” on youth disconnection (more than 10% reduction

• ver a set period), and found that these communities

approached the problem through collective impact. Collective impact is a strategy where different organizations align efforts to solve a problem.

Collective Impact

One program cannot do it all.

Collective Impact

Common Agenda Common Progress Measures Mutually Reinforcing Activities Communication Backbone Organization

Case Study: WorkReady Philadelphia

Case Study: WorkReady Philadelphia

Common Agenda: to connect young people to the workforce Common Progress Measures: # of youth rejected by summer jobs program who are engaged in school and work. Backbone org: PYN is single point of entry for all youth and employers.

Disconnected Youth

Private sector employers Foundations Mayor’s

• ffice and

Chamber of Commerce Philadelphia Youth Network

Additional Community Orgs

School district

Case Study #2: College Promise

1.Start with data 2.Assemble all stakeholders 3.Unite around a common agenda and shared metrics 4.Develop a shared plan 5.Communicate! 6.Results

Large #s of youth becoming disconnected after HS Public colleges, Mayor’s office, K-12 school district, community orgs. Goal: increased post-secondary enrollment and completion. First semester free tuition; waived enrollment fees; guaranteed admission; expanded scholarships. Regular check-ins let stakeholders refine their tactics as necessary. 43% increase in college enrollment, 500% increase in course completion.

Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis. “One in Seven: Ranking Youth Disconnection in the 25 Largest Metro Areas.” Measure of America. September 2012. Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis. “Zeroing In on Race and Place.” Measure of America. June 2015. Sarah Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis. “Halve the Gap by 2030: Youth Disconnection in America’s Cities.” Measure of America. October 2013. John Bridgeland & Tess Mason-Elder, “National Roadmap for Opportunity Youth.” Gates Foundation and Civic Enterprises. Presented at Opportunity Nation Summit, September 2012. Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Connecting Youth Through Multiple Pathways.” PowerPoint presentation. December 2008. Annie E. Casey Foundation, “Creating Opportunity for Families: A Two-Generation Approach.” 2014. Kate Tallant, et al, “Collective Impact for Opportunity Youth.” FSG. 2012. Available online at http://gradsoflife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Collective-Impact- for-Opportunity-Youth.pdf Clive R. Belfield, et al, “The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth.” January 2012. Available online at http://www.serve.gov/new- images/council/pdf/econ_value_opportunity_youth.pdf Grads of Life, “Connecting Youth and Business: A Toolkit for Employers.” Available online at www.opportunitynation.org/youthandbusiness Opportunity Nation, “Connecting Youth and Strengthening Communities: The Data Behind Civic Engagement and Economic Opportunity.” September 2014. Available

• nline at opportunitynation.org.

The White House Council for Community Solutions. “Final Report on Community Solutions for Opportunity Youth.” June 2012. White House Council of Economic Advisors, Economic Costs of Youth Disadvantage and High-Return Opportunities for Change. July 2015. Center for Strategic & International Studies and the National Guard Youth Foundation Conference, filmed in 2013 and available via YouTube, “America’s Youth in Crisis: Understanding Why Adolescents Disengage and Drop Out.” American Youth Policy Brief. “Creating Access to Opportunities for Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care.” December 2014. Peter Z. Scholet, “National Job Corps Study: The Short Term Impacts of Job Corps on Participants’ Employment and Related Outcomes.” U.S. Department of Labor. February 9, 2000. http://wdr.doleta.gov/opr/fulltext/00-JC_outcomes.pdf Megan Millenky, et al, “Staying on Course: Results of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Evaluation.” MDRC. June 2011. http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_510.pdf Andrew Wiegand, et al, “Adapting to Local Context: Findings from the YouthBuild Evaluation Implementation study.” MDRC. February 2015. http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/Adapting_to_Local_Context.pdf Amy Kaslow, “In Baltimore, a fight to give juvenile offenders an economic lifeline.” FORTUNE. December 18, 2014. http://fortune.com/2014/12/18/baltimore- juvenile-offenders-employment/ Anne Roder & Mark Elliott, “A Promising Start: Year Up’s Initial Impacts on Low-Income Young Adults’ Careers.” Economic Mobility Corporation. April 2011. http://www.yearup.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/emc_study.pdf Brett Theodos, et al, “Preparing Youth for College and Career: A Process Evaluation of Urban Alliance.” Urban Institute. September 16, 2014. http://www.urban.org/research/publication/preparing-youth-college-and-career/view/full_report

Sources Cited

Want to know more?

Youth Disconnection 201

Starting in Fall 2016

See you in 15 minutes!

BREAK!

Activity: Part One

For the next half-hour, consider the following questions as they relate to your jurisdiction:

What do we know?

WHAT are your subpopulations? How many youth in your community are between the ages

• f 16 and 24? Each year, how many young

people

• Age out of the foster care system?
• Fail to graduate from high school?
• Return to the community from juvenile and

adult correctional facilities?

• Are served in shelters or temporary

housing? Are there other unique challenges facing young people or your labor market? WHEN are youth getting disconnected? What proportion of (a) middle students never make the transition to high school; (b) students who enter the 9th grade graduate from high school four years later; and (c) high school graduates go on to some form of post-secondary education? WHERE can you find disconnected youth? Are most dropouts, court-involved youth, and foster care youth concentrated in specific neighborhoods or high schools? Thinking about disconnected youth that you serve, what are the primary barriers to work and school?

Activity: Part Two

For the next half-hour, consider the following questions as they relate to your jurisdiction:

What do we have to build on?

What opportunities exist for disconnected youth to reconnect to school, work, and caring adults? Are there enough options to meet the current need? What might you expand? To what extent have key stakeholders come together to develop a shared vision and plan for helping disconnected youth? Who are the stakeholders already at the table and who should be at the table? Do stakeholders working with disconnected youth regularly share information and coordinate their efforts? What else could they do? Who could you connect?